Bellator chief Scott Coker teases new tournaments for 2019

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TheEmperorRises

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View: https://youtu.be/K99p0czn2bE

(Comment starts at 2:15)

More tournaments could be headed to Bellator next year, and fighters are excited about the prospect.

Bellator President Scott Coker said on Saturday to be on the lookout for the format when the Bellator’s world heavyweight grand prix wraps up later this year.

“I want to get through the heavyweight tournament first, but I think it’s a great format for us,” Coker said after Bellator 199, which aired on Paramount from SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., and hosted the final opening-round/quarterfinal matchup of the eight-man competition. “I believe there is a place for tournaments in MMA, and I think this grand prix tournament proves that it’s something worth doing.

“For us, it’s great because it crowns our new heavyweight champion. But don’t be surprised if you see another tournament or so next year.”

Bellator 199’s headliner saw light-heavyweight champion Ryan Bader (25-5 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) smash Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (21-7 MMA, 10-6 BMMA) in 15 seconds to advance to the semifinals, where he meets natural heavyweight Matt Mitrione (21-7 MMA, 10-6 BMMA).

Bellator 199 main-card winners Aaron Pico and Jon Fitch, who came out victorious in separate bouts, signaled they would volunteer for a tournament when the promotion puts together brackets.

“At 145 (pounds), just in wrestling and fighting, there are so many good guys,” said featherweight Pico (3-1 MMA, 3-1 BMMA), who stopped Lee Morrison (19-9 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) in 70 seconds with a body shot. “But if there was ever anything to emerge, that would be one hell of a tournament. There would be a lot of people tuning in, that’s for sure.”

Co-headliner Fitch (31-7-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA), who outpointed Paul Daley (40-16-2 MMA, 6-3 BMMA) over three rounds in an unusual bout, said he wants to climb the ranks as quickly as possible because he’s not getting any younger. If a belt were on the line, a tournament might expedite his mission.

“There are a lot of really tough welterweights right now, and the way they’re doing it with the heavyweights seems to be successful,” he said. “So it could be fun.”

As a promoter, Coker is no stranger to the tournament format. He promoted several as the head of the now-defunct Strikeforce promotion, where a heavyweight grand prix in 2012 drew big ratings for broadcast partner Showtime. After taking the reigns at Bellator in 2014, he shifted away from the tournament-centered structure set up by ex-CEO Bjorn Rebney in favor of “tentpole” events, often headlined by aging UFC stars.

But with Bellator now aggressively pursuing free agents, there’s a need to put all the new talent to work. The only question is what divisions will choose first for a tournament.


Full story here:
Bellator chief Scott Coker teases new tournaments for 2019
 

sparkuri

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Welterweight would be fantastic, so I don't see it happening.
 
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He should have a ticket sales tournament.

Whoever sells the most tickets gets a shot at the fucking title.
 

sparkuri

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...why?

FW and WW are the most likely for the next ones.
Bellator is now painfully inactive with champs, ex-champs, stars, big names and contenders.
Look at the welterweight division.
MVP = Golden goose in the UK.
Rory = Champ & golden goose in the North America.
Lorenz Larkin = Longtime Coker favorite and name.
Semtex = 1 fight on contract, open disputes, KO'd Larkin and lost to Fitch in a tailor-made exit'ish co-main.
Fitch = A nightmare for Bellator's most exciting fighters.
Koreshkov = One of many Eastern block's being unfriended by proxy, maybe the best in the division.
Lima = Dangerous former champ & Golden goose in a market not currently sought after, like the Pitbull's at lw/fw.
Neiman Gracie = Same market, undefeated, Royce, etc.
Dillon Danis = Golden Goose in the largest market.
Brennan Ward & Baby Slice = Both expendable Bellator names/mini-draws.
Logan Storley = Another undefeated possible golden goose.


The reason I say it's not gonna happen, is because I'm being critical.
They abso-fucking-lutely need to do this, so they absolutely won't.
They're being WAY to gunshy on their roster.

FW & LW are most likely imo, they falsely believe there's too much investment/possible lost revenue long-term in a welterweight tourny.
They need to let it all hang out, and have a massive WW tournament the likes of which hasn't been seen in MMA to date.
And imo, they need to promote it and start placement this year, before the conclusion of the HW tourny, so if the HW homer they're looking for doesn't pan out, fans are still riding the high of the format and immediately thrust into a high-powered fresh one with solid name recognition.
 

TheEmperorRises

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Bellator is now painfully inactive with champs, ex-champs, stars, big names and contenders.
Look at the welterweight division.
MVP = Golden goose in the UK.
Rory = Champ & golden goose in the North America.
Lorenz Larkin = Longtime Coker favorite and name.
Semtex = 1 fight on contract, open disputes, KO'd Larkin and lost to Fitch in a tailor-made exit'ish co-main.
Fitch = A nightmare for Bellator's most exciting fighters.
Koreshkov = One of many Eastern block's being unfriended by proxy, maybe the best in the division.
Lima = Dangerous former champ & Golden goose in a market not currently sought after, like the Pitbull's at lw/fw.
Neiman Gracie = Same market, undefeated, Royce, etc.
Dillon Danis = Golden Goose in the largest market.
Brennan Ward & Baby Slice = Both expendable Bellator names/mini-draws.
Logan Storley = Another undefeated possible golden goose.


The reason I say it's not gonna happen, is because I'm being critical.
They abso-fucking-lutely need to do this, so they absolutely won't.
They're being WAY to gunshy on their roster.

FW & LW are most likely imo, they falsely believe there's too much investment/possible lost revenue long-term in a welterweight tourny.
They need to let it all hang out, and have a massive WW tournament the likes of which hasn't been seen in MMA to date.
And imo, they need to promote it and start placement this year, before the conclusion of the HW tourny, so if the HW homer they're looking for doesn't pan out, fans are still riding the high of the format and immediately thrust into a high-powered fresh one with solid name recognition.
Neiman fights at MW, and Danis is too early in his career to score an invite.

Any new tournament will likely be announced at the end of the year, or at the very beginning of the new year, like the HW tourney was.

If they follow the 8 man tourney format set by the HW's this year, it might look like this-

Rory MacDonald
Douglas Lima
Andrey Koreshkov
Jon Fitch
Lorenz Larkin
Michael Venom Page
Logan Storely
Ed Ruth

Or probably Michael Chandler or Benson Henderson in place of Ruth, but I would go with Ruth.
 

sparkuri

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Neiman fights at MW, and Danis is too early in his career to score an invite.

Any new tournament will likely be announced at the end of the year, or at the very beginning of the new year, like the HW tourney was.

If they follow the 8 man tourney format set by the HW's this year, it might look like this-

Rory MacDonald
Douglas Lima
Andrey Koreshkov
Jon Fitch
Lorenz Larkin
Michael Venom Page
Logan Storely
Ed Ruth

Or probably Michael Chandler or Benson Henderson in place of Ruth, but I would go with Ruth.
I forgot to mention Ruth, although I see Ward getting the nod over Ruth, as well as Semtex getting the nod over Storely on the opposite side of bracket as Fitch and MVP.
If Scott is as committed as he says to still working with Paul, he can't leave him out of a WW tourny, unless he wants to pay him giant dollars to headline a Ward rematch or something.
They REALLY should do this.
 

TheEmperorRises

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I forgot to mention Ruth, although I see Ward getting the nod over Ruth, as well as Semtex getting the nod over Storely on the opposite side of bracket as Fitch and MVP.
If Scott is as committed as he says to still working with Paul, he can't leave him out of a WW tourny, unless he wants to pay him giant dollars to headline a Ward rematch or something.
They REALLY should do this.
I don't think Paul is committed to staying, after his next fight, the last on his current contract.
 

sparkuri

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I don't think Paul is committed to staying, after his next fight, the last on his current contract.
I'm not committed to eat my own turds, but for 50k I'd take a nibble.
We'll see how this plays out, but it certainly seems like Coker/Chou were trying to save some dough by lowering Paul's bargaining power, which Paul threw a giant wrench in, imo.
No one wants to see Fitch fight, we're made to watch Fitch fight.
If Paul's next fight is against Logan Storely, I guess he's off to PFL and Bellator just basically traded Semtex for a overpriced quilt that can only draw in San Jose for an extra 700 tickets and 100,000 less views.
 

TheEmperorRises

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No one wants to see Fitch fight, we're made to watch Fitch fight.
If Paul's next fight is against Logan Storely, I guess he's off to PFL and Bellator just basically traded Semtex for a overpriced quilt that can only draw in San Jose for an extra 700 tickets and 100,000 less views.
That's one way to look at it, but the other way is just that they traded up, for a better fighter.

All Fitch did was just expose the exact same weakness Daley showed years ago when Koscheck sent him packing from the UFC- his inability to defend takedowns, work for submissions, or get back up to his feet without referee assistance.

Rory MacDonald, Andrey Koreshkov, Jon Fitch, Logan Storely, Ed Ruth...if they resign Paul he can't just avoid those guys forever, and you know exactly how those fights would play out.

Koreshkov is a great example- Askren outgrappled him badly in their fight. Instead of bitching about it, he worked on his grappling to the point where it won him the title when he fought Lima. Paul has never shown that kind of resolve, and likely never will.
 

sparkuri

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That's one way to look at it, but the other way is just that they traded up, for a better fighter.

All Fitch did was just expose the exact same weakness Daley showed years ago when Koscheck sent him packing from the UFC- his inability to defend takedowns, work for submissions, or get back up to his feet without referee assistance.

Rory MacDonald, Andrey Koreshkov, Jon Fitch, Logan Storely, Ed Ruth...if they resign Paul he can't just avoid those guys forever, and you know exactly how those fights would play out.

Koreshkov is a great example- Askren outgrappled him badly in their fight. Instead of bitching about it, he worked on his grappling to the point where it won him the title when he fought Lima. Paul has never shown that kind of resolve, and likely never will.

The other way to look at it is, he's a 35-year old exciting kickboxer/mma vet with over 80 pro fights, that provides fireworks & KO's when matched up with any sense present.
Are they gonna sign Melvin Manhoef and match him up with Ed Ruth?
Of course not.

Fitch isn't a better "fighter", he's a better competitor in a cage under unified rules.
We all appreciate pedigree, art, and skill, but this matchup's result was plain as day from announcement to postfight.
It just sucked balls, and was stupid leading into the main event.
I've only booed twice at any fights.
Once was this one, Bellator brass needs to know.
 

SensoriaUtopia

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I would like them to be creative and do a tourny where guys anywhere from 155 , to 170 to 185 can enter

I think that would be cool, winner wont get a title shot but lots of money
 

TheEmperorRises

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I would like them to be creative and do a tourny where guys anywhere from 155 , to 170 to 185 can enter

I think that would be cool, winner wont get a title shot but lots of money
A massive, 16 man Open Weight Grand Prix would be fantastic